The derivation of the game of hockey is not entirely clear. There are some that believe that it is an evolution of stick and ball games dating back over 4000 years to Egypt. A more common and more recent evolutionary theory has modern hockey developed as an derivation of the Irish game or hurling dating from at least 1200 B.C. Modern hockey has its roots in the early 19th century. After centuries of evolution, however, much of the sport retains its basic simplicity. Modern advances in sport technology would be well advised to retain the desirable simplicity of design while still providing improvements to player's performance.
Recent developments in sporting goods have commonly turned to the development or utilization of high tech materials. Considerable design effort has been expended to make devices stronger, lighter, more or less flexible, and more durable. The principles behind this direction in hockey innovation have lead many in the industry to believe the future of traditional hockey equipment lies in the introduction of new and improved materials to traditional designs. What the improved material theories fail to address is the fundamental limitations of the traditional designs they seek to improve. A new approach towards rethinking traditional design shapes may produce more significant improvements than the application of material sciences.
One arena in which traditional designs of hockey stick are lacking stems from a failure to apply decades of knowledge of the human body to age old designs. Often hockey sticks retain designs that are offshoots from the simple sticks from which they were originally formed. As such they largely remain straight shafts with only the most minor modifications. Players or other users must grip the straight shaft from the side. This commonly places the users wrist in a strained position which in turn hampers performance and causes undue stress on the user. In addition, a traditional side gripping stance places the centreline of the user's forearm on an angle to the centreline of the engaged shaft. This non-linear grip approach prevents the shaft from acting as a true extension of the users arm. The brain and body must compensate for the lack of linear extension constantly during usage of the shaft. This not only adds undue stress to the player but also acts a limiter to the true freedom of motion granted to human form.
It would be advantageous to have ergonomic handle design that would allow players to utilize hockey sticks with a reduction of stress as well as a more liberal freedom of motion they already experience in their own limbs.